SMS ateway suggestion

Category: Zone BBS Suggestions and Feedback

Post 1 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Thursday, 09-Nov-2006 19:55:17

Would it be possible to have a place in account settings where we could put our cell phone number in if we wanted to be texted? Then, when a user views our profiles, they'd have the option to send a text. Just a thought, and it would be totally optional.

Post 2 by Jage (Zone BBS, a decade of madness) on Thursday, 09-Nov-2006 20:03:05

yup. I think that'll be the next extension of this feature. May take a bit, but it's in the works.

Post 3 by yankee g wolverine (Account disabled) on Thursday, 09-Nov-2006 20:21:52

sounds good to me

Post 4 by rdfreak (THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE-BLUE KANGA-KICKIN AUSIE) on Thursday, 09-Nov-2006 23:58:40

now young J, how easy or difficult will it be to go international with this?

Post 5 by Nem (I just keep on posting!) on Friday, 10-Nov-2006 8:21:11

I don't mean to hijack the post but I found out that you can reply to someone who texts you via email. I just wonder if you can reply to that email back to their phone? How cool this is.

Post 6 by TylerK (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 11-Nov-2006 8:45:31

Squared, how difficult is it to add a <input type="text" name="Cell Phone # (Optional)"> tag to Account Settings? Not hard at all! You're exaggerating the difficulty of this feature. Just copy and paste the line of code above into the source code for the Account Settings page.

Post 7 by b3n (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Saturday, 11-Nov-2006 9:25:23

It won't work like that. With my limited knolige of php, he would have to make so that the script can accept peramitors, for example sms.php?user=1101 or something like that.
Depending on how he has done the script, this could be more than just adding a checkbox in the account settings about it.
He would also have to make it only show up as an option for people in america coz of the gateway that he uses, but i think i can find some uk gateways if he wants, dunno how there api's work though.
Good idea, BEHN.

Post 8 by Jage (Zone BBS, a decade of madness) on Saturday, 11-Nov-2006 14:52:24

ya. there's a bit to do to make it work. We don't always put in new features the easiest possible way. We want them to work right and be coded in a way that will let us expand them. As for international, I should be able to add more providers soon.

Post 9 by TylerK (This site is so "educational") on Sunday, 12-Nov-2006 8:26:10

Squared, good choice to use a <select> tag in the page.

Post 10 by b3n (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Monday, 13-Nov-2006 13:33:56

I assume that some kinda protection would need to be implamented aswell, for example something that stops someone from spamming me with texts, say only allow one per minute?
BEN.

Post 11 by sugar (Entertain me. I dare you.) on Monday, 13-Nov-2006 14:08:00

I really liked the feature when I saw it, and I really do like Jesse's idea. Question I have to pose is: what if you have someone's number, but you don't know what provider they're with? Is there any way it can be made so that you just input the country code in the number and not have to pick a provider? I am unfortunately ignorent about these matters. Smile

Post 12 by Jage (Zone BBS, a decade of madness) on Tuesday, 14-Nov-2006 9:44:56

Unfortunately, no. We need the provider to route the message through the right gateway. There may be a website that will find providers based on a number, but with number portability, this isn't always accurate.

Post 13 by Chris N (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 14-Nov-2006 9:54:47

I also think that the number should not be displayed on the profile. This would allow you to receive text messages without everyone knowing your cell phone number.

Post 14 by sugar (Entertain me. I dare you.) on Tuesday, 14-Nov-2006 14:22:49

I agree with that,

Post 15 by TylerK (This site is so "educational") on Tuesday, 14-Nov-2006 17:59:46

Chris, I agree with that idea. The # shouldn't be in the profile for privacy reasons.

Post 16 by Jage (Zone BBS, a decade of madness) on Tuesday, 14-Nov-2006 21:50:29

yup. it would be like Email addresses are now. You can send messages, but they won't know the address.